Woman Gives Birth at Wildlife Aquarium in Missouri

"Most water births happen in softly lit rooms, with midwives, tubs, and carefully calibrated temperatures. This one began in a public restroom at Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium & Museum in Springfield, Missouri, with a woman in labor in a building full of fish. On Dec. 3, Eli Snider, a senior emergency medical dispatcher with Mercy EMS, faced a sudden race to deliver a baby at an unexpected"

"- only 25 days after another child was born in a Buc-ee's parking lot in the same city. Snider, 25, tells TODAY.com that several women were in the restroom with the mother, who has not been publicly identified, as he stayed on the phone with a bystander, calmly talking her through the delivery. 'She was my hands, my eyes,' Snider says. 'She would tell me about the scene, and then I would guide her through.'"

"According to Snider, the child was born about four to five minutes after the call began. Guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say that labor for first-time mothers typically lasts 12 to 18 hours, making a four-to-five-minute delivery highly unusual. 'I could hear the baby cry and that made me very happy,' Snider said, calling it the moment he knew the delivery had gone well. Shortly afterward, first responders arrived, and mother and baby were taken to a local hospital."

Eli Snider, a 25-year-old senior emergency medical dispatcher with Mercy EMS, guided a bystander over the phone to deliver a baby in a public restroom at Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium & Museum in Springfield, Missouri. Several women were present with the mother, who has not been publicly identified. The child arrived about four to five minutes after the call began, an unusually rapid delivery compared with typical first-time labor durations of 12 to 18 hours. Snider heard the newborn cry and described the moment as joyful. First responders transported mother and baby to a local hospital.

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